Me and My Body -- and the Three Day

[qos]

My body and I have a long and ambiguous relationship. I don't recall ever hating it, but I've also seldom cared enough to tend it properly. For most of my life, my body has simply been the transport vehicle for my head.

The periods during which I have tried to improve the relationship, to focus on its needs, eat right, exercise, etc. have been rewarding, but not rewarding enough for long-term consistency.

I haven't been on the scale for months -- possibly as long as a year. When I stepped on it this morning, I was stunned at how high the number was. Perhaps some of you know this feeling: I knew it was too high, but not that high!

It certainly re-confirms my decision to do the 3-Day.

I've been talking to the L's and to a_belletrist about it, and it's going to be a challenge on every level. But if when I complete it, I will have proven to myself that there is nothing I can't do.

What's especially interesting about this challenge is that it's one of the very few that I've taken on knowing that I would need and want company in it. It's hard for me to imagine walking 60 miles in three days without at least one friend right there with me. It's hard to imagine training for six months without a buddy. It's hard to imagine dealing with the fear without a friend -- or three -- to be a sounding board and help me talk it out.

Because I am afraid of this. No one element is really scary in itself. It's a lot of apprehensions that add up to fear: the physical challenge of 20 miles a day for three days, wondering how hot or wet the weather will be, about having the right gear, about the emotional challenges of being an introvert living with a crowd of strangers for three days, and etc.

The L's are helping me continue to process the energy awakening I'm experiencing, including helping me learn how to use that energy to increase my endurance and transform/transcend pain. Which adds an entirely new dimension to training.

I've done 2.5 of the four workouts on the training schedule, and need to improve that consistency -- but it's still far more than I have been doing. But Friday I was so wiped out that I went to bed early because I could scarcely think anymore. Last night I did my three miles in 69 minutes while watching the miniseries "Planet Earth" with _storyteller and my daughter. He helped me move the treadmill into the living room so I could watch, and then moved it back into my bedroom afterward. When doing endurance/duration work, it's so much easier to have company. High intensity I need to be alone to focus. For endurance, I need something to engage my mind, and moral support helps a lot. His saying "I'm proud of you," when I was just hitting two mile and wasn't enjoying the thought of the third made a huge difference to me emotionally.

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

This was interesting reading -- you know, after you brought it up, I thought about doing it, and my major objection was the fact about being an introvert camping out with strangers for three days :)

Alas, there is not one in Austin.

Go, you!!!!

[aerden.livejournal.com]

So you'll be walking 20 miles a day...which is 10 hours a day of walking for three days. Yikes!

I could do it, but I know my back would start to give me hell after a couple of hours, and I don't even want to think about the bathroom breaks I'd need.

Are you doing this for a charity? If so, please let me know, and I'd be happy to donate.

Chantal

[qos.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's the Avon 3-Day walk to raise money for breast cancer research:
http://www.the3day.org/site/pp.asp?c=pmL6JnO8KzE&b=2182495

They have an amazing structure to suppor the walkers both before and during the event.

I have another entry about it if you scroll back a few days. :-)

After I officially register, I'll post a link to the donation site. Each walker needs to raise a minimum of $2,200 in donations.

[queenofhalves]

get really really good shoes. and really really good socks. several pairs.

your biggest challenge will probably be blisters!

[blessed-harlot.livejournal.com]

You are so awesome!

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

Wow. I could have written the first three paragraphs here. I _have_, more than once in the past.

I can't think of something that's a physical goal for me in the same way as what you have here - what an excellent goal to work toward!

Do you work out with _storyteller or uncrowned_king? if not, do you have any tips how to work out (or to get started) when your SO has ... um, more inertia, or more butt-glue, than you do? *wry smile*

I want to have a kid sometime soon (I'm 37 now), and while I want to be more fit, and I've even had some serious health issues, I can't seem to find the get-up-and-DO-IT-ALREADY motivation anywhere.

thanks so much for sharing your experiences with this realm. It's hard for me to feel my body has value sometimes, you know? My brain and personality earn my living, earned my grades before then, and heck. Old habits die hard.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I'm not working out with the guys yet. Their fitness level is considerably above mine -- but they definitely provide motivation, support and inspiration, and I'm looking forward to walking and lifting weights with them in a few weeks.

If the SO isn't motivated, find a friend who is, or set yourself a meaningful goal. One of the things I'm realizing is that reaching a particular weight never had much emotional oomph for me as a motivator. Is there anything you really want to do that your physical condition makes more difficult? (My problem has been that recently there hasn't been such an activity, not one I cared about enough to make a difference.) Other than that, I don't know. It's a problem I had in the past too.

I strongly encourage losing weight/getting more fit if you're going to have a child. I was starting to lose weight when I got pregnant, and I'm certain that I would have had a more pleasant pregnancy if I had been closer to my ideal weight.